A number of observers have long looked with skepticism upon California's high-profile, Church-suing lawyer John Manly. Therefore, it was not surprising to see that Manly openly admitted to Sue Nowicki at The Modesto Bee newspaper that that his office has obtained clients for abuse lawsuits by making unsolicited phone calls to Catholic Church parishioners.

It is difficult to single out particular episodes from the numerous nasty public displays from the anti-Catholic group SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests).

However, the organization may have reached a new low point when SNAP National Director David Clohessy suggested that Philadelphia's Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua was somehow faking his cancer and dementia in order to avoid testifying at the high-profile abuse trial in Philadelphia earlier this year.

Cardinal Bevilacqua died barely 36 hours after Clohessy made his heartless remark. Not surprisingly, Clohessy – who repeatedly demands apologies from others for alleged events from 20, 30, or 40 years ago – has never publicly apologized to Catholics or to Cardinal Bevilacqua's family.

The media has shown no interest in the issue, but many have long wondered about the financial connection between wealthy contingency lawyers and professional "support" groups like SNAP.

TheMediaReport.com clarified the matter when it exclusively reported that the world's top Church-targeting lawyer, Jeff Anderson, wrote a whopping check for $43,950 to SNAP as he enthusiastically orchestrated this year's fundraising session at the group's annual conference in Chicago this past July.

Why let the facts get in the way of a good smear job against the Catholic Church?

That was the approach that Josh McElwee at the dissident National Catholic Reporter appeared to take in a reckless and mean-spirited piece in which he falsely suggested that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles somehow knew that a priest it had welcomed from England had been accused of child abuse there.

(Note to Josh: The next time that SNAP tries to plant you a story that is so fishy that even the Los Angeles Times won't touch it, take a pass.)

I am back in England for Christmas and have seen several reports about child sexual abuse committed in various institutions. This very day there is a news report about a TV weatherman whose home has been searched by the police in connection with historical sexual abuse while he was a school teacher.

I have not encountered one story related to Catholic clergy.

I somehow think SNAP would have a hard time conning the media over here with their propaganda. I look forward to posting on sites where their misrepresentations appear during 2013. It seems Australia is their latest target. In the meantime I was blocked from posting comments on their own website. An organization which forbids freedom of speech and misrepresents the truth is one which should arouse everybody’s suspicion.

A happy Christmas to all readers. And a special mention for all the wonderful priests who serve the Church.

Thanks to TMR – this is a perfect example of the Church Militant. "The first law of history is not to dare to utter falsehood; the second, not to fear to speak the truth." Pope Leo XIII. Bravo TMR, Bravo – this article is a 'weapon of mass instruction.'